


Neighbors Nein: Beauregard Beginning

by faceplantmay



Series: The Neighbors Nein AU [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 19:10:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17607245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faceplantmay/pseuds/faceplantmay
Summary: Prologue Part Two:Rocky shores soften around solid earth.





	Neighbors Nein: Beauregard Beginning

Beauregard and Jester were happenstance roommates; they started their friendship by being paired together in a dorm room their freshman year. Beau started college as a begrudging History major who preferred the gym and the bar more than class, who stewed in her contempt during her lessons, who was abandoned that first fall and forgotten about until the following spring by her parents. She met the world with her fists balled and went in swinging.  
  
She never thought anyone would swing back.  


\-----

  
Her first day in the dorms was like being hit with cold water. Her father watched as Beau unloaded the truck on her own, and her mother fussed and fluttered around the small bedroom looking at vent covers in the shared bathroom, running a finger across the air conditioner, tutting at the stains on the desk. It took everything in Beau to not kick her out and lock the door. That would come later. She just set her teeth and poured armfuls of her things on the furthest bed. If there was anything she had a choice in, it would at least be where she would sleep. Her mom pursed her lips and tutted again at Beau who smiled tightly as an apology, her brown skin cracking only around her forehead as if she were attempting to hide a furrowed brow.

After two hours, Beau collapsed on top of her clothes, her parents climbing into their truck and peeling away without even looking back. The next four years would be nothing but staying under their control, studying what they wanted, following a path laid out for her, continuing to be the child that would take over their company. She groaned and buried her face into the deep pile, kicking her legs against her bed. A knock on the open-door frame spooked her, and she shot up only to be face to face with a bright eyed, short haired fairy. She was carrying a deep tub filled with snacks carefully stacked by size to ensure the tub to be evenly heavy.

Behind her, a grim looking gentleman rolled in two large suitcases, seams threatening to burst at the slightest misstep. His twinkling eyes gave away his soft heart, and every time the girl would bounce, he would fight back a smile. “Hello, I’m Jester!” Her roommate smiled brightly, and Beau sat up to meet her fully. “Looks like we’re going to be roomies! I’m so excited!” Jester’s lilting voice peppered the small room with flowers. Beau felt like the whole sun shone more vibrantly. Her first instinct was to be pissed off, to be biting and snarky, but then came the first blow. “I can tell we’re going best friends, just you wait, I’ll make you like me.” Jester set the tub on her bed and held out her hand, which Beau took hesitantly. “You’ll find I’m very likable.” She took Beau’s hand in both of hers and shook it hard up and down. “I can tell you like to be a hard ass, that’s okay, I’ll be soft enough for both of us!” Beau slipped her hand out of the girl’s and forced a thin smile. “I’m Beauregard. Beau.”  


\-----

  
After their freshman year, Beau struggled to keep interest in school. Beau had convinced her parents to let her live off campus, which surprised them as much as it did her. Jester was adamant about staying together, and as much as she loathed to say it out loud, Beau was fond of Jester too, so when Jester’s mother offered to pay their rent for a modest apartment for the next few years, neither Beau nor her parents could say no. Beauregard's father, however, made it very clear that for her to continue to have any allowance from the family, she would have to continue in school.

She made it to the end of her sophomore year before she had enough. It had been over a year since they had to share a room, but those last few weeks of the spring semester led to her sleeping in Jester’s bed while the other girl propped herself up on the pillows beside Beau and snacked while she studied. Beauregard’s body started to betray her; she began bartending to earn some non-monitored money but working until two or three in the morning and going to class and maintaining her activity in her boxing group wore her down. Her exhaustion led to her falling asleep in class mid-lecture. A young black man shook her, and she awoke to an empty classroom; he handed her a short set of notes he had scribbled down at the end before they dismissed, and Beau could see the smudges on the paper from where he wrote too fast. It was when he smiled at her and walked off that she realized she hated everything about this version of higher knowledge. She hated the tests, the note taking, the regurgitated information, the hard-pressed thumb of her father over her to continue.

Beau passed her finals with flying colors, and that June she quit school and her family quit her. Beau welcomed the freedom. Jester was family enough for her anyway.


End file.
